Track Listing:

[1]

1. California Feeling

2. Brian's Back

3. We're Together Again

4. Our Team

5. How's About A Little Bit Of Your Sweet Lovin'

6. I'm Begging You Please

7. Santa Ana Winds

8. Looking Down The Coast

9. Lazy Lizzy

[2]

1. California Dreaming

2. Skatetown U.S.A.

3. Sherry, She Needs Me

4. River Song

5. Stevie *

6. Marilyn Rovell

7. We Gotta Groove

8. Carry Me Home

Audio: Stereo (* = Mono)

Side 1 Runtime: 23:45

Side 2 Runtime: 23:27

Overall Runtime: 47:12

As a bonus, I've added some tracks where I tried fix some parts of this bootleg for fun. I've balanced out the tape dropout in the right channel near the beginning of Santa Ana Winds '78 as well as removing clicks in it, and I fixed the skip in the first chorus of Stevie.

This is California Feeling, an album of 17 previously unreleased recordings carefully selected and programmed for your listening delectation. Be mindful of the fact that although the title "California Feeling" was the proposed moniker for what was to essentially become the M.I.U. Album, this collection bears no resemblance to that album. We simply liked the title and decided to appropriate it for the little collection we've assembled here. (We'd also like to point out that this album bears no relationship to an unauthorzed collection on the Making Waves Ltd. label entitled Califonia Feeling [sic]. Perhaps they should change the name of their label to Illiterate Records).

Our program begins with the title track, written by Brian with Steve Kalinich in late 1975. If there was ever a group qualified to sing about California feelings, it's these guys. Nuf said. "Brian's Back", ostensibly a Mike solo effort (although Carl's unmistakable falsetto essentially renders this a "group effort") follows. Manages to be affectionate without becoming obsequious in this touching tribute to his cousin and long-time cohort and collaborator. Motifs from some of the group's earlier hits are interweaved throughout the song. If you get hard-up for a parlour game you can try picking them out.

Part of the influential fallout from the towel-head religions that were in vogue during the late sixties/early seventies was the concept of mantra. This particular style of singing was put to use several times by the boys, and always with pleasant results. "We're Together Again" is no exception. It's a rather pretty song and was recorded circa 1970. In the mold of "Be True To Your School" (sorta) comes "Our Team", a song considered for the M.I.U. Album but dropped at the last minute. Another song likewise dropped from that collection was "How's About A Little Bit Of Your Sweet Lovin'", a shout tune barely longer than its title.

The next song (presented here in painfully discreet stereo) is not a finished track but rather a vocal/piano demo of Brian imploring "I'm Begging You Please". The disturbing revelation here is that vocally there is sometimes a thin line seperating Brian from Wild Man Fischer. Alan gets spotlight on the next two numbers. His lead vocal on the unreleased version og "Santa Ana Winds" is obviously a scratch track. Note that the lyrics were completely rewritten by the time this song was redone for inclusion on Keepin' The Summer Alive. Though the version included here is considerably rougher, this reviewer finds that it possesses more charm than the more refined and considerably "sweetened" officially released specimen. Brian sings the opening lines of Al's next track, "Looking Down The Coast", another song with a California feeling. The side closes with another of Brian's demos. "Lazy Lizzie" is a domestic essay, the subject matter being about picking your kids up as they walk home from school. So who says ya gotta try to be deep all the time, huh? The song has something of a dirge-like quality about it and is too long and meandering but it is, as stated, only a demo.

Side Two: Mike and Carl share the lead vocal on the Mamas & Papas hit "California Dreamin'", the only cover song contained on this album. "Skatetown U.S.A." was written by Al and Mike and submitted to Columbia Pictures for consideration for the "roller disco" film of the same name. The song lost out to a recording by Dave Mason. "Sherry She Needs Me" is interesting in that the instrumental track was recorded in 1965, but the vocal was recorded by Brian in 1976. The trouble is, the lyrics are dippy, even by 1965 standards. There are some phrases that just don't seem to work very well in the context of a pop song: "Sherry, don't hate her guts because she took me away" is a prime example. The basic storyline of the song is excessively naive. The singer is asking his old flame to be cool about getting ditched for some other chick, and he even goes so far as to suggest that the ditchee should consider becoming friends with her successor. This kind of logic could only come from someone who's spent too much time with his feet in a sandbox; in real life socio-sexual relationships seldom resolve themselves in such a way. It's hard to find fault with the instrumental tracks, though. The music is sophisticated even by mid-seventies standards.

The boys get heavy with "River Song" co-authored by the brothers Dennis and Carl. This quite respectable group effort preceeded the version Dennis eventually cut for his one and only released solo album. This is a rough mix, to be sure, but it packs a punch. From 1980 comes a song produced by Dennis and sung by Brian: "Stevie" was written about that airhead who sings in Fleetwood Mac.

I guess you could say that "Marilyn Rovell" rates as a "personal" song from Brian, considering that the song's title was his wife's maiden name. "We Gotta Groove" is somewhat of a mystery. We don't know which of the brothers wrote it or when it was recorded. It doesn't even sound much like them (but it is). I guess this number could be described as a bombastic mantra.

This album closes with a track that, in light of the events that have since transpired, is downright scary. "Carry Me Home" is a solo effort from Dennis, the lyric content of which leads one to the conclusion that the man may have been haunted by some frightening and all too dreadfully accurate preminitions regarding his eventual fate. We will comment no further about it — the song speaks for itself.

So there you have it... a generous helping of rarities finally released from the vaults. We hope you have fun fun fun listening to them!

— Liner notes by Dr. Eugene Landy